Vikings Sign Tryout Player to the Roster
Last week, the Vikings kicked off the NFL journey for several rookies. Drafted and undrafted rookies arrived for rookie minicamp to have their first practice session at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, MN. To fill the roster for that day, the Vikings invited various tryout players. One of those landed a roster spot.
The Vikings added undrafted rookie Smith Vilbert, a defensive lineman out of Penn State and North Carolina.
His agent Brett Tessler fired up a post on social media to announce the major step for his client, “The Minnesota Vikings just signed my client Smith Vilbert (DL, UNC / Penn State) to a 3-year deal after he attended their rookie minicamp this weekend.”
By definition, a tryout player is working on a very short timeline, making the need to standout paramount. Anyone who gets signed has clearly shined, offering unique ability among (in this case) the 21 rookie tryout candidates. Vilbert must have done something right to earn the more secure UDFA deal.
In recent Vikings history, Minnesota natives Adam Thielen and C.J. Ham come to mind, both of whom had extensive careers with the Vikings.
Vilbert wants to go the route of fellow defensive lineman Elijah Williams. Undrafted out of Morgan State, Williams earned an offseason roster spot with the Vikings through a tryout, eventually appeared in games, and was stashed on the active roster throughout his rookie campaign. He made nine tackles in seven appearances.
Will Ragatz of SI.com wrote about the new Vikings addition, “Standing nearly 6’6″ and 290 pounds, Vilbert has 34-inch arms and brings some versatility. He lined up mostly as an edge defender in college but can also play on the interior of the D-line. A New Jersey native, Vilbert was a three-star recruit coming out of high school in 2019 and chose Penn State over several other big-time offers. His college career didn’t exactly go to plan. He redshirted his first two years, saw some time in 2021 and had three sacks, and then missed virtually all of the 2022 and 2023 seasons due to injury or other undisclosed reasons.”
In the Vikings’ defense, a 290-pounder will compete on the interior, although coordinator Brian Flores occasionally deployed interior defender Jalen Redmond on the edge last season.
Vilbert enters a rebuilt defensive line. Last year’s free agency additions, Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen, were released earlier this offseason after a single season with the club. Instead, the front office spent two premium picks to acquire Caleb Banks in the first round and Domonique Orange in the third.
Starter Redmond remains from last year, as well as backups Levi Drake Rodriguez and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, who were Day 3 picks in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The aforementioned Williams is still around and so is nose tackle Tai Taimani, who was a practice-squadder last year.
Monkell Goodwine was added as an undrafted rookie shortly after the draft and veteran Eric Johnson signed a few days later. With Vilbert, that makes ten defensive tackles. After August’s cutdown day, between five and seven will remain on the 53-man roster.
Last season, in his lone year at North Carolina, Vilbert logged 22 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, and 1 sack. His next job is to defend his roster spot throughout spring and summer practices and to show flashes in the preseason in August. The 53-man roster might be unlikely, but the practice squad is a realistic goal for the rookie.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.